Vulnerable leaders and a major milestone
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I launched my Coaching Cafe last week. It was a joy. It was a major milestone in my life. It felt big.
The coaching training I have had and the leadership development that I continue to engage in is important. It provides a new way of being in the world. A new way that is desperately needed.
What is the Coaching Cafe?
The idea of the Coaching Cafe is to bring together small groups of people in an informal supportive environment where they can meet new people, learn something about themselves and support each other. An environment where people can share ideas and experiences and take something back into their lives that enables them to be different and have a different impact.
It’s about leading from the heart and soul, connecting with others, loving them, wanting the best for them, collaborating together, nurturing and supporting one another. For the benefit of the individual, the community and the world we live in.
Being vulnerable
Coaching can be a vulnerable profession. It requires me as the coach to stick my neck on the line for the sake of the client becoming who they can be at their best.
The Coaching Cafe took my vulnerability to a new level. I had no idea if my concept would work. I engaged four trial clients and I stepped into being vulnerable. No protection. They did the same. They opened up with honesty and learned something about themselves.
In an hour and a half, they gained insights into who they are and how they operate. They learned things about themselves that make them better equipped to make decisions from the heart. Decisions that honour their values. Decisions that will make their heart sing.
A new world
That’s what I want for the world. I want you to have joy in your heart. Deep joy. From a deep place within you. I want you to connect with your true nature; I want you to connect with our beautiful planet and recognise how glorious our natural world is. I want you to cherish it and nurture it for future generations to come.
It’s a new way of being. Less doing. More being. More about how we show up in the world. And I realise that this is a vulnerable place for me because it’s so important. I’m opening myself up completely saying: “Here I am, this is what I stand for. Come with me.”
I was good at my corporate job. Highly respected. Rewarded well. Now I’m being me, it’s personal. I’ve let go of the job title and the role I was playing.. I can no longer hide behind the armour of the job. Now it’s my heart and soul that are being put on the line. Failure seems not to be an option and yet it is inevitable. More than that. It’s essential. So that I can learn from it and move forward.
I realise that the more vulnerable I am, the more I give to the world and the people in it. The more I can be who I really am and have the impact I want to have. Leaders need to be vulnerable. To not know the path and dare to create a new one. To ask for help along the way. To collaborate with others to get there. To want to succeed and be willing to fail.
One step at a time
The Coaching Cafe was a major milestone. I’m so grateful to the four women who came along to the pilot session, who shared the moment of my major milestone with me, who supported my vulnerability and opened up their own vulnerability. For the sake of my learning and theirs.
What’s the impact you want to have on the world?
Who do you need to be to have that impact?
What do you need to let go of?
I look forward to more major milestones and putting my heart on the line for the sake of the world we live in. One step at a time. I hope you will join me.
With love,
Jude. x
Thanks also to 7 Square in Warwick who looked after us beautifully and provided a great space for the Coaching Cafe.
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